Sheet-guiding mechanism.



P. DUFFY. SHEET GUIDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28, 1911.

Patented Aug". 13, 1912.

a Woe wti Felerj UNITED STATES IlATENT OFFICE.

TEE'IER DUFFY, OF NEW YORK, N. ASSIGNOR TO THE SCHUBERT PIANO COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHEET-GUIDING -MEGHAN ISM.

Specificaition of Letters lat'ent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

Application filed 111116 28 iel Serial No. ca5,ss 4.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER DUFFY, a citizen ot the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and. State of Ne York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Guiding hiechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention. relates to improved means for guiding sheets or webs, such for instance as music sheets or webs, the object of the invention being to provide an improved mechanism. of this character by means of which the music sheet will not only be auto-v matically maintained in its proper POSHZIOH,

relatively to the tracker board, but the some may be utilized for transposing the music into different keys without the necessity of n'ioving the tracker board or repositioning the spools.

In. the drawings accompanying and form ing part of this specification, Figure 1 is a 'p-n'spectire view of a self-playing pianowith parts of the casing broken away tsched thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective view oi? the sheetinding mechanism detached from tl pianoifcrte Figs. 3, i and 5 are desii the WS of the shiftsble valve member and.

controls, Fig. illustrat- "f the valve lever when the in its normal position, Fig. 4 nosi o of the valve lever to transpose r key, while i illusof the valve lever when ift to t isposc the oi: the drewiiigs.

The present improvement is p rticulorly adapted. for self-playing instniunents and is .ietl by a suitable casing or support 52- wlnch may be attached within t rinsing of pieuoforte. This casing 52, which may be oi": any suitable or desired construction, s-zupports a pair of music rolls 3 and 4, the roll or spool 3 usually *arrying the record or music sheet which is to travel over the nerforsted-tr cker board 5 when the same is 6. upon the companion roll or spool 4.. unwinding the sheet from one roll to 6 a dethe other suitable niechcnisin well known. in

by a journal or shaft 6 mounted in suitable bearings, and this shaft -6 carries a sprocket wheel 7 connected by a suitable sprocket chain 8 with another sprocket wheel 9 on o. shaft 10 supported by the frame work. On this shaft is mounted a pinion 12 having a pin 13 therein forming one member of 'a clutch member 13, a corresponding pin, not shown, carried on the sprocket 9 forming the other member of the clutch. Motion is im parted to the shaft 10, which is a sliding shaft, by s sprocket l1. lVhen the shaft is in position shown in Fig. 2 the pinion 12 is in en a ement with the car 14 thereb roa b a y toting the roll el and unwinding the music web from the roll 3. When the lever for shifting this shaft 10 is brought to the right the pinion 12 is disengaged from the gear 14; and the clutch pin 13 will engage the pin on the sprocket 9, at which time it will be seen that the roll 3 is winding up the music from the roll 4. The sprocket 9 is loosely mounted on the shaft 10 and held in lateral position by the guide finger 10. Between these rolls 3 and ii is located the usual tracker board a, having the usual perforations 16 w .ich the perforations in the record or music sheet coincide.

The shaft 6 is sup oortecl by the :t'ranie work for longitudinal movement, the end thereof projecting into position to engage an arm 1? curried by a bellows 18 secured to the frame work. The opposite end of the roll 3 is supported LV :1 trig-pressed plunger or journal 19 by means of which the roll 3 will be maintained in s .ch position that the end oi"; the it 6 wiil be held in engagement with the arm ii of the bellows.

Away from the music sheet a. pair of members 529 end 21, the member 20 compris in g o iiecl erin carrying a port, and for this purpose it carries a tube 22 to which is attached a flexible tube 23 leading bellows l8 hereinhefore refer-res The L0. lever 21 is supported. position to have one end thereof engaged by the music sheet and i s opposite end in POSltIOIl'iG close the b port, this lever being supported for lengthwise movement and also tor swinging movement, and is therefore pivotally supported adjacent to the member 520; The rear end of this lever 21 forms a valve 24 for closing the port, while the front end of the lever is step formed, as at 25, the lever being pivotally supported intermediate its ends on a bracket 26, to which the port member 20 is also secured. In the present instance the lever is shown comprising a valve portion 27 and a sheet engaging portion 28 connected by a pair of resilient corrugated members 29 for the reception of a pivot 30 by means of which the lever is. pivotally supported for swinging movement. By this construction the lever may be pushed rearwardly or drawn forwardly into one or another of the openings formed by the corrugated connecting resilient members, three of which are shown in the present instance, A suitable spring 31 is located in position to normally maintain the valve lever in engagement with the music sheet, whereby the port will normally be maintained closed. Leading from the bellows to the usual pneumatic of the musical instrument is a tube 35, the opening thereinto from the bellows being somewhat smaller than that connecting the bellows with the port carried by the member 20, thereby to permit proper operation of the bellows in the manner about to be described.

The lever 21, according to the position of the music sheet, will have one of its steps in engagement with the edge of the sheet during its traveling movement from the roll 3 to the roll t, so that if the sheet varies with relation to the tracker board the mechanism herein shown will automatically shift the sheet to have the perforations therein properly coincide with the perforations of the tracker board. For instance, if the sheet during its traveling movements moves to the left it Wlll shift the lever 21 into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby moving the valve and opening the port and permitting atmospheric air to pass into the tube and from thence to the bellows, thereby expanding the same and causing the arm thereof to move away from the shaft 6, whereupon the spring actuated plunger at the opposite end of the roll 3 causes "the roll to move toward the right so to again bring the shaft 6 into engagement with the arm of the bellows and so return the sheet to its proper position relatively to the tracker board, at which time the valve will close the ort. If, however, the sheet should crawl or move to the right, the port being closed by its valve the gradual exhaust of the air from the bellows contracts the same and causes the arm to shift the shaft 6 and thereby the music roll against the action of'the spring actuated plunger into proper position to have the sheet ti..vel in proper position on the tracker board. lt'is understood, of course, that b y reason of the f at that the outlet from the bellows is of smaller diameter than. the inlet thereto the air will pass therefrom with less rapidity than it passes thereinto.

Should a music sheet of one manufacturer be wider or narrower than that of another, or should it be desired to transpose the music to a lower or a higher key, it is merely necessary to adjust the valve lever by pushing it forward or rearward. For instance, if it is desired to transpose the music into a lower key this valve lever is drawn forward so that the pivot thereof will be located in the rear opening formed by the corrugated members, which will thus bring the rear step' of the series of three steps into engagement with the music sheet. If, on the con trary, it is desired to transpose the music into a higher key the lever is pushed rearward so that the pivot will be brought into the forward or first opening, which will thus bring the first or forward step of the lever into position to contact with the edge of the sheet. It will thus be observed that in any position of the lever the valve thereof controls the port leading to the bellows. It will also be understood that various modifications may be made and various forms of levers supported in different manners could be used to accomplish the same purpose, so that the details may be more or less varied without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention, which broadly consists of a valve memberfor controlling a port by means of its engagement with the sheet, and which member may be adjusted relatively'"to the sheet to permit the music to be trans posed into different keys.

From the foregoing it "will be observed that the music may be transposed into different keys without the necessity of moving the tracker board or re-positioning the spools, and that not only is the present improvement automatically effective to prop erly guide the music sheet, but that it may also be used to transpose the music by the mere adjustment of the valve lever.

I claim as my invention:

1. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sneet laterally, and means for controlling the ophaving a part music sheet an of the sheet to transpose the music into different key.

3. A music sheetguiding mechanism, comprising a pneumatically operated device, a port. connected therewith, and shittable and adjustable means in engagement with the sheet and cooperating With said port for controlling the position of the shee; and ad justable across the edge of the sheet to transpose the music into a different key.

4. ii music sheet guiding mechanism, comprising a port, automatically operative means connected with the port for moving the sheet laterally, and means for governring said sheet-moving means and comprising a shiftable and adjustable valve member cooperating with the port and having a part thereof in position to contact with the sheet and adjustable across the edge of the sheet to transpose the music into a different key.

ill-music sheet guiding mechanismcomprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the op cration of said means and including a port and a pivotally supported valve lever in engagement with the sheet and controlling said port, said lever being supported for movement in the direction of its length relatively to its pivotal support.

6. A. music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the operation of said means and including a port located away from and out of contact with the sheet and a. pivotally supported valve lever in position to contact with the sheet and control said port, said lever being supported for movement lengthwise thereof whereby its position may be varied relatively to its pivotal support.

7. A music sheet guiding mechanism com' prising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the operation of said means and including a port and a pivotally supported and adjustable member having a step formed part adapted to contact with the music sheet and a valve controlling said port.

A music shcct guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, means tor controlling the ope;- t ion of said means and including a phi-t and a pivotally supported and adjustable member having a step formed part adapted to contact with the music sheet and a valve controlling said port, and means for holding 'said member. n engagement with the music tion of said means and including a port and i a pivotally supported and adjustable memher having a step formed part adapted to contact with the music sheet and a valve controlling said port, said member having means to maintain it in engagement. with its pivotal support in any ot its adjusted positions.

10. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, means for controlling the operation of said means and including a port and a pivotally supported and adjust able member having a step torn'ied part adapted to contact with the music sheet and a valve controlling said port, said iember having means to maintain it in engagement with its pivotal support in any of its adjusted positions, said means comprising resilient members.

11. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the operation of said means and comprising a port located away from and out of contact with the sheet, and a step formed valve lever adapted to contact with the sheetand having a valve forclosing said port, said valve lever being supported for swinging movement between its ends and also for lengthwise adjustable movement relatively to the sheet.

12. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally and including a pneumatic, and means for controlling the operation thereof and including a port and a swing ingly supported and lengthwise adjustable valve controlling member in position to contact with the sheet. i

13. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheetlaterally and including a pneumatic having an inlet and an outlet, the latter of smaller diameter than the inlet, a port in communication with the inlet of said pneumat-ic, and means in engagement with the sheetand carrying a valve for closing said port, said means comprising a member sup; ported for pivotal movement and length wise adjustment. relatively to its pivotal support.

14. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally and including a pneumatic having an inlet and an outlet, the latter of smaller diameter than the inlet, a port in communication with the inlet of said pneumatic, and means in engagement with the ,sheet and carrying a valve for closing said port, said means comprising a member supported for pivotal movement and lengthwise adjustment relatively to its pi otal support and having one end thereof of step formation.

15.A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising a pair of rolls, means for winding the sheet from one roll to the other, lengthwise shiftable journals for supporting lever in engagement with the sheet.

16. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising a pneumatically operated device and a'port'connected therewith and controlled by means in engagement with the sheet, said means supported for and capable of movement in transverse directions, one in the direction of the travel of the sheet and one across the edge of the sheet, such movement efiecting the transposition of the music into a diiferent key.

17. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising a pneumatically operated device and a port connected therewith and controlled by means'in engagement with the sheet, said means supported for movement in transverse point of support, one a swinging movement and the other an adjustable movement lengthwise thereof. 18. A music sheet guiding mechanism directions relatively to its comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means forcontrolling the operation of said means and including a port and a member controlling said port andhaving means adjustable into different positions; one crosswise of the edge of the sheet to engage the music sheet and effect a 1tg'ansposition of the music into a different 9. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means: operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the operation of said means and including a port and a member controlling said port and having means adjustable into difierent positions to engage the music sheet, said sheet engaging means comprising offsets or steps.

20. A music sheet guiding mechanism comprising means operative to move the sheet laterally, and means for controlling the operation of said means and including a port and a member controlling said port and havingmeans bodily adjustable lengthwise into different positions to engage the music sheet, said port being located away from 'and out of contact with the music sheet.

Signed at New York, county and State of New York, this 23rd day of June, 1911.

PETER DUFFY. Witnesses:

PETER DUFEY, FREDERICK S. WILsON. 

